Rick Rivet

Country/Region: Métis (view other artists)

Rick Rivet was born in Aklavik, Northwest Territories in 1949. He left the region to pursue art and art related studies at the University of Alberta, University of Victoria and University of Saskatchewan. He holds a BA, BFA, MFA, and BEd and is the recipient of extensive and impressive scholarships and awards. In addition to his art practice, Rivet has taught art in many parts of Canada. His current residence is Terrace, British Columbia.

The thoughtful and sophisticated canvasses Rivet creates bridge more than the spaces he has travelled in Canada or those that link Native and Canadian realities. He employs images from the space-time continuum of human existence. Shamanistic imagery from ancient peoples across the globe is interwoven with themes and concerns of our modern Western culture.

Rivet’s paintings and drawings form parts of major collections such as: the Museum of Civilization, Hull, Québec; the Province of British Columbia Art Collection, Victoria, BC; the Maltwood Museum and Art Gallery, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC; the Gordon Snelgrove Art Gallery, University of Saskatchewan, and Memorial University Art Gallery, St. John’s, Nfld. His work is also represented in numerous private collections worldwide.

In July 2006, Rivet was elected to membership in the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA).


SELECTED RECENT EXHIBITIONS

1990 Houston North Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Other Art Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Great Northern Arts Festival.

Inuvialuit Corporate Centre, Inuvik, Northwest Territories

1991 Public – Private Gatherings: Recent Acquisitions, Indian and Inuit Art Gallery, The Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Québec

1991-92 Directions, Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, Ontario (solo)

1992 Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, BC

1992-94 Indigena: Perspectives of Indigenous Peoples on Five Hundred Years. The Indian and Inuit Gallery, The Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Québec

1992-93 Canada’s First People: A Celebrations of Contemporary Native Visual Arts, Alberta Part Art Publications Society (with Syncrude Canada Ltd.) Edmonton, and subsequent tour of Canada and Japan.

1992-93 Drawing Exhibition, The National Art Centre, Ottawa, Ontario and Indian art Centre Gallery, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, Ontario

1993 Native American art and First Nations People’s Art, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington

1994 Axis – North by Northwest, the Virginia Christopher Gallery, Calgary, Alberta (solo)

Prince of Whales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

Matter, Space and Time. Simon Patrich Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia

Discoveries ‘94. Simon Patrich Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia

Arts From the Arctic (Russia, Canada, Alaska, Greenland, Scandinavian Lapland).
Maltwood Art Museum and Gallery, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia

1994 Painting Exhibition, the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife, NWT (solo)

1995 Arts from the Arctic, rotating international group
(93 & 94) exhibition

Recent Acquisitions. Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ottawa, Ontario

The Great Northern Arts Festival. Inuvialuit Corporate Centre, Inuvik, Northwest Territories

1995 Journey Images, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC (solo)

1996 Mask Series. Virginia Christopher Gallery, Calgary, Alberta

The Yukon Arts Centre, Whitehorse, Yukon

Gallery Gevick, Toronto, Ontario

1996-97 Topographies: Aspects of Recent British Columbia Art. Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia

1997 Group Show. Gallery Gevick, Toronto, Ontario

Canadian Collection at APEC ‘97. Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre; University of BC Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, British Columbia

Asia/Pacific Arts Festival. Department of Asian Studies, University of BC, Vancouver, British Columbia

1998 Journeys / Mounds. Gallery Gevick, Toronto, Ontario

1999 Indian Summer.
Musées royaux d’art et d’histoire de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

Rick Rivet and Jane Ash Poitras. Canadian Cultural Centre, Department of Foreign Affairs, Paris, France

2003 Rick Rivet: New Work, Gallery Gevik, Toronto, Ontario

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

Alberta Energy Company, Calgary, Alberta
Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Québec
Chateau Champlain, Montréal, Québec
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Art Collection, Canadian Embassy, Moscow, Russia
Government of British Columbia Art Collection, Victoria, BC
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Maltwood Museum and Art Gallery, University of Victoria, BC Memorial University Art Gallery, Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland
Gordon Snelgrove Art Gallery, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, Ontario
Vancouver Inuit Art Society, Vancouver, BC

VIEW SHORT BIOGRAPHY